Window cleaner



Nov. 1l 1924q Y 1,515,015

A. J. DRlscoLL E-rr AL i' to provide means for rapidly Patented Nov. 1.1, 1924.

g i ,UNITED STATES PATENT oF 1,515,015 FICE.

ARTHUR J. DRISCOLL, oF JAMAICA PLAIN, AND

FRANK A. REINHARD, F READING,

MASSACHUSETTS, AssIGNoRS To UTILITY MANUFACTURING a SALES CORPORA- i n WIN-now A Application filedV June 1',

yTaZZ 'whom t may armurerie-p' *A i Be it known'that'we, ARTHUR J. DRIsooLL and FRANK A. REINHARD,citizensl of the United States, residing, respectively, at Jamaica Plain andReading, in the lcounties of Suffolk and Middlesex and State-of Massachusetts, have vinvented..certain new. and useful Improvements in Window Cleaners, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to vimprovements in window cleaners. More especially it relates to devices for Cleaning the Windshield or other glass of a vehicle which `is subject to the. deposit of rain, snow, orv other obscuring tmbstanee v"1.

It is iny general an object of the invention Vand easily cleaning kthe windshield at the drivers pleasure. Further objects are to provide so that the Cleaner can` be carried` in an out of the Vway place, sovasA not to interfere with the drivers vision and` yet be ready to pass rapidly over the'surface., and `quickly. return.v

l 2 -:Itis a further V4object ofthe present .invention, 'tofclean the entire ,glass area' by one' relatively short operating-movement with automatic return; to vsweep the glass in one directiononlyT and that a ,downward direc-A tion with the aid of gravity, thus guarding against its leaving a trail ofwater drops on the glass. vAnotherobject is to locatethe operating handle so that the driver will not vbe obliged to move eyes or body. `from his driving position, and to that end to arrange it so that the device can be operated by him by hand or foot, or can be operated by another person in the car. Y

These objects rare attained by providing linkage, normally compacted at the top of ,the windshield adapted to hold and to operate vertically a wiper extending horizontally along the surface to be cleaned, ready atl its top to be moved downward over theentire height of theks'urface'in one stroke, and restored to its ready position on thereturn stroke. Guides atrthe sidesy ofthe Windshield are adapted todirect the wiper against the glass during the downward movement, and to hold it laway from the glass during the movement upward.` The wiper is Suspended on pins at vtwo'- points, one being fixed and pivotal, the other 'being Sliding and pivotal; said pins being at the ends of crossed links or arms which can each 1921'. seria-1 No. 474,134.

swing down over the face ofthe glass. Similar ypins attach the said arms to the frame at thetop. The swing of vthe supporting pins is 'translated into a straight up and down movement of the wiper by reason of having .the arms pivoted together'where they cross each other, pins at one end, say at the drivers left, strictly pivotal, while those at thel other ends' are connected to the frame and to the wiper through slots in said frame and wi er. At each end of the wiper asingle vertical strip of metal with cam ends guides the wiper automatically against or away from the glass, according to its directionof motion. The said larms are swung down by power applied on the rear side of the glass, by an operating arm which can swing down on the same pivot as oney of the wiper arms. For working this operating arm a handle may be employed, or a oord which can lead to a pedal or to any part of the car.

In the accompanying drawings, there is illustrated one embodiment of the invention. which is adapted for cleaning one side of a windshieid, which is ordinarily sufficient. This illustrates a device which Could be constructed for Cleaning both Sides atythe same time, however, and for cleaning other types of windows. The drawings and deseription are therefore to be 'taken as merely illustrative. and the scope of the invention is not limited to this particular anplication.

, It is intended that the patent shall cover, by .suitable expression in the lappended claims,

Figure 4 is' a plan of a detail, in section v on line 4 4'01" Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a side elevation, in section on line 5 5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a front elevation of a detail;

and by having their terminal Figure 7 is a plan, partly in section, showin a modification of operating means; and

igure 8 is an elevation showing a modilied form of linkage. n

The drawings represent4 a Windshield glass 10 carried in a frame mounted pivotally on uprights or supports 1'3 in the usual manner, there being vertical frame members 14 at the sides of the glass and a horizontal frame member 16 along the top edge thereof. On this top member 16 of the frame the device embodying the present 1nvention is carried, there being a rotatable pin 18 passing through and journalled 1n the frame, at a point about one-quarter of its length from one end, to which pm 1s secured, on the drivers side of the frame, a bell crank lever having a relatively long arm 20, and a'short arm 22. When this lever is in its normal inoperative position its long arm 20 is horizontal, substantially parallel to and overlyin the face of the top frame member 16; an its short arm polnts down at approximately right angles thereto. The lever is yieldingly retained in this position by a tension spring 24, connected between the short arm 22 and the frame. The free end of the longer arm 20 is located within easy reach of the driver, and may'have a handle 26, or may be connected by cord or chain 28 to a 'foot pedal or other contrivance, (not shown) by which the driver or other. occupant ofthe car Ymay pull down on the arm 20 to operate the device. On the front or outside of the frame an arm 30 is fixed at one end to the in 18. This arm 30 is substantially paral el to the arm 20, and, when up, lies horizontally along the front face of the top windshield frame member. At its swinging end this arm has a pin 3l in sliding engagement with a horizontally slotted guide strip 32 which is attached to a horizontal movable wiper bar 34 extending the full width of the windshield. At its center 35, the arm 30 is pivotally connected to the center of a similar arm 36 of equal length but differently connected between the same frame 16 and bar 34. This stands in opposite relation to each of them, as compared with the arm 30, the cross arm 36 being pivotally connected to the bar wiper 34 by the pin 37 and slidably pivoted within a slotted guide strip 38 on the frame 16. The action of the linkage thus far described is as follows. When any personv pulls down the arm 20, the arm 30 is swung down, both being fixed on the pin 18, as by a. key 39, to the same angular extent. This movement of the arm 30 is transmitted through the pin 35 to the arm 36; and both transmit motion to the wiperI bar 34, driving it downward and meanwhile holding it parallel to the frame top 16. Every point of the arm 30 moves in an arc of a circle whose center is the axis `of the pin 18. Accordingly cach point of this arm may be consideredat any instant, considering its location by coordinates, to have moved a distance horizontally and a distance vertically; and the extent of its travel depends upon its radial distancev `fron the pin 18. Therefore at every instant the center of the arm has moved downward just half as much as its end has done; and similarly the horizontal movement of its center is half that of its end. As the arm 36 is pivoted at its center to the center of the arm 30, it has the same vertical and horizontal movements as the center point of the arm 30. And since one end ofthe cross arm 36 is restrained from movement vertically, because of its engagement in the horizontal slot in the iixed guide strip 38, it follows that its other end must move vertically just twice as far as its center does, or in other words as far as the vertical movement of the free end of arm 30, both arms being of equal length. The bar 34, being connected to the moving end of each arm 30, 36,.is thrust downward therewith remaining parallel to the top frame 16. In order that the motion of the bar may have no horizontal component, the guide strip 32 is slotted so that the end of the arm 30 may slide horizontally therein along the wiper as it moves down. The lower end of arm 36 moves only in a straight line and is bar. This 1s accomplished by causing one end of the arm to move only horizontally in the slot of the guide strip 38, on a line running through the axes of the pin 18. Since its center 35 is always at a fixed distance from the fixed pin 18, it follows mathe- .matically that its opposite end must always lie on a line through the pin 18 perpendicularrto the horizontal line of movement of thel first mentioned end. As illustrated the slots in the guide strips are long enough to permit movement 'of the wiper bar to just be-k yond the lower edge of the glass; by making them longer the permitted vertical throw of the bar could be increased to cover a second glass set lower in the windshield, or to extend further on the same glass, if larger.

The wiper shown is channel shaped in cross section, having a binding strip 40 adjustable within to hold a flexible wiper 42 in position to pro-ject from the bar towardl the surface of the glass. At each .end the bar is provided with cam surfaces 44 and 46, one of which is inclined downward from the outside top edge toward the inner edge and the other of which is inclined upward from the lower inner edge toward the outer edge. These cam surfaces are adapted to engage the inclined top and bottom end portions 48 and 50 of the side vertical guides 52. These are strips of metal set forward from the side frame members 14 and parallel thereto, ex-

ivotally connected to the Wiper bar pass downward between the strip yand the frame, the .wiper 42 will bev pressed against the glass,` and when the wiper bar passes up with its ends outside of the guide strip, the wiper will be held away from the,"

glass. In order that vthe bar may always pass between the strip and the glass, when depressed, the arms 30 and 36 are made oi metal having elasticity, and are given a perf manentset tending to` bring their lower ends inward against the glass. This slightvspring pressure is sufficient to overcome the elastic resistance of the wiper so that it is bent a little along the glass. thereby allowing the bar to be held in the space between thevertical planes of the guide strips and of the glass. As it is moved downward from its position of rest above the ends of the Aside guides, the lower cam faces 46 descend upon the rear-facing inclines 48 at the tops of the side guides, which thenv force the bar close to the glass as it continues downward. The bar descends beyond the lower ends of the side guides, and is then free of the guide. The elasticity of the levers and the elasticity of the wiper are balanced when the bar ends are approximately in alignment with the vertical side guide strips.A As the bar moves upward, when pulled on its return stroke by spring 24, the upper cam faces 44 of the wiper bar ends strike against the forward facing surfaces 50 of the bottoms of the side guide strips, thereby moving the bar outward, against the elastic bending of the arms 30,36, so that it slides u ward on the forward faces of the side guides, whereby the wiper is held away from the glass.

The device of the invention is thus seen to be simple in construction, assembly, and manipulation. A short downward movement'of the operating lever sends the wiper twice as far in a direction which, being wholly downward, is superior to the sidewise or swinging movement of devices commonly known. Thus gravity is made to cooperate in the, cleaning of the entire glass by one short stroke of the operator, giving vision through the entire area of the Windshield, which is important for guarding against accidents. On its return'the wiper ,leaves no drops, and accumulates none on its upper surface. Rubbing in `one direction only the wear is less than with those wipers which are rubbed back and forth over the glass. The straight downward pull by which the operating lever can be worked is both convenient for the driver or occupant of the other front seat, and also permits of operation by a passenger in the rear seat,

Ytions parallel;

providing suitable cord and pulley connections are installed, it being necessary to apply the power in'only one direction, the return being automatic.

, Moreover the device can be operated` continuously by power derived yfrom any suitable source, air, electrical or mechanical in origin. To this end a pulley or gear20 substituted on pin 18 forl the operating lever 20, as shown in Figure 7, can receive reciprocating motion through a belt 21; Or, if preferred, the cord 28 on arm 20 can' be 'pulled intermittently` by power.

If the cleaning device of the present invention is to be used on an ordinary sized windshield, the linkagel shown in Figure 1 is preferable, but if it'is desired to extend the movement of the wiper over a greater extent of surface, this may beeasily accomplished by adding crossr arms 30', 36 to the first pair of arms 80, 36 as in Figure- 8.' In

v this case it is the extreme ends of such arms .that are attached, respectively pivotedl and slidably, to the wiper and the windshield frame. In such cases the word arm in the claims refers broadly to the complete arm, whatever be the number of sections jointed together that constitute it. Such an arrangement having one added section, is illustrated in Figure 8.

We claim:

1. A window cleaner having'l a wiper ex-v tending along one edge of the surface that is to be cleaned, combined with means for moving the wiper over the said surface, meanwhile maintaining its successive positions parallel; there being along each edge of said surface, parallel to the direction of motion of the wiper, a single guide having terminal inclines out and in; and there being on each end of the wiper, cam faces adapted to engage one pair of said inclines to turn the wiper against the surface, at an angle inclined thereto for good cleaning during its wiping stroke, and to engage the other pair of said inc lines to turn the wiper away from the surface during its return stroke.

2. A window cleaner having la wiper extending along one edge of the surface that is to be cleaned, combined with linkage for movin the wiper over the said surface, meanw ile maintaining its successive posithere being along each edge of said surface parallel to the direction of motion of the wiper, a single guide strip adapted to hold the wiper against said surface on its wiping stroke and away therefrom on its return stroke; the said linkage being elastic laterally, to and from the surface, and set to center the ends of the wiper in the plane of the guide strips.

3. A window cleaner having a wiper extending along one edge of the surface that is to be cleaned, combined withk operating pendicular to the direction of travel of the 25 means pivoted at said edge and linkage oonwiper. y Y y. nectingfsaid operating means with the wiper 5.y A window cleaner having a wiper exand translating the rocking motion thereof tending horizontally along one edge ofthe -zinto rectilinear motion ofthe Wiper over surface that is to be cleaned, combined with vsaid surface; the said linkage comprising a )operating means pivoted above the wiper at 30 air of arms centrally pivoted together, each said edge and linkage connecting said opergoing at one end pivotally and at its other ating means Awith the wiper and translating, vend slidably connected between the wipe-r the rocking motion thereof into `rectilinear l0 and the thing which is to be cleaned. vertical motion of `the wiper over said snr- 4. A window cleaner having a wiper ex- `face; the said linkage comprising a pair of 35 tendin alon one edge of the surface that is arms pivoted `together centrally Vand each beto' be c eane an operating arm on thefop-y ling at one end pivotally and at its other end posite side of said surface carried on a 4pin slidably connected between the wiper' and lijournaled in the frame of the window at` the thing which is tov be cleaned; the said Lsaid edge; there being linkage connecting slidable connection being pins on the arms 40 the pin and the wiper comprising a pair of slidable in horizontal slots, wherein the slide l arms pivoted together intermediate their bearing is horizontal during the vertical ends,\one arm being connected at one end to movement of the wiper. 20 the pin, and at its other end slidably en-v Signed at Boston', Massachusetts, this 25th gaged in aguide sl'ot on the wiper;the other day of May, 1921. arm beinglpivoted at 'one end to the wiper and at its other end engaged in a guide slot ARTHUR J. DRISCOLL. on the frame; the said gu1de slots being pery FRANK A. REINHARD. 

